The school year is starting! So, why am I going to Colorado?
(In Deutsch: siehe unten)
It is Labor Day, 2007 and I am flying to be with my Antarctic research team. Tomorrow school starts in all of the USA except for me. After many years of teaching, I received a teacher-enhancement year , or a sabbatical . This was honored independent form the PolarTREC program. Sometimes all good things happen all at once! I will be using the time away from my teaching for the PolarTREC outreach program, visiting classrooms across the USA, Canada, and Germany
However, my first stop will be in Boulder, Colorado, to be retrained by my ozone research team: the Ozone and Water Vapor of the Global Monitoring Division (GMD) of NOAA. Researcher Bryan Johnson will train me as he has done in 1998!
Yes, retrained, because I was with the team already at South Pole in 1998/99. A dream certainly came true to do work at South Pole Station a second time. Besides the PolarTREC tasks of staying in touch with students, I will be, for instance, launching ozone sonde balloons in order to retrieve an ozone profile. That means the ozone sonde needs to be prepared, the balloon to be filled, and the sonde needs to be carefully launched.
The photos show a good summary of some of the steps of ozone-sonde launching. Imagine doing that in the Antarctic!
Bryan Johnson is reviewing the ozone sonde prparations with Elke in the ozone prep lab
Sept 5, 2007, NOAA Marshall Fields, North of Boulder, CO. Bryan and Elke placing the ozone sonde outside for temperature adjustment.
Science technition Patric Cullis reviews with Elke the filling of the balloon inside the balloon inflation facility at the NOAA Marshall Field.
Bryan , Patric and Elke attaching the sonde to the blloon.
Partic , Bryan and Elke getting ready for the right moment to launch.
The ozone sonde is launched
Sept 7,2007, Boulder, CO. The NOAA office faces these Flat Iron Mountains ( Part of the Southern Rockies) . Elke is taking a walk after a very buzy and informative week. I am ready for the South Pole!!
In German – auf Deutsch:
Warum fliege ich nach Colorado wenn das Schuljahr anfaengt?
Ich habe ein "freies Schuljahr” – nach vielen Lehrer Jahren. Hier nennt man das ”sabbatical”. Ich werde einen teil der Zeit ausnutzen, um Schulklassen in anderen Stataten in den USA zu besuchen. Ach werde ich Klassen in Kanada und in Deutschland besuchen. Aber erst mal nach Boulder, Colorado zu meiner NOAA Forschungsgruppe. Ich muss mich mit den Ozonen- Forschungsmethoden am Suedpol wieder bekannt machen. Ja, richtig gehoert: ”wieder bekannt machen”, denn in 1999 war ich schon mal da. In der Woche in Boulder werde ich zum Anderen wieder lernen wie man eine Ozonensonde fuer den Ballonflug vorbereitet um dann ein Ozonenwertprofile zu bekommen. Die Bilder schildern einige unserer Arbeiten.